Shame is a toxic and unhealthy emotion — or so goes the conventional wisdom that has proliferated across popular books and TED Talks in recent years.

But is it always? In the push to liberate ourselves from feeling shame, has our culture become too shameless?

Biola philosophy professor Gregg Ten Elshof contends that we have, pointing to (among other trends) rampant immodesty, the crumbling of civil discourse, the celebration of disrespectful behavior and the increasing acceptance of self-promotion. In his new book, For Shame: Rediscovering the Virtues of a Maligned Emotion (Zondervan, August 2021), Ten Elshof argues that “the wholesale denigration of shame and the corresponding attempt to eradicate it is misguided” and aims to “articulate how shame contributes to a healthy moral and emotional experience.” Drawing from philosophy, psychology and Scripture, he offers a nuanced look at both the unhealthy and healthy roles that shame can play in our lives and communities — making careful distinctions between an appropriate sense of shame and harmful self-loathing. Biola Magazine recently caught up with him to discuss the book, which garnered a five-star review in the October 2021 issue of Christianity Today.

For Shame Book Cover

Shame is widely regarded today as a toxic, inherently destructive emotion. What made you want to come to shame’s defense?
A while ago, I got interested in classical Chinese wisdom traditions — especially Confucianism. I found in the Confucian tradition some helpful sources of correction for followers of Jesus who had steeped exclusively in post-Enlightenment Western wisdom. And, as nearly everyone knows, the Confucian tradition is a shame/honor